Hunter and Mad Scien Chapter 215

The mont the audience chamber door opened, Cider definitely saw the queen. And he also saw her turn and run away the instant their eyes t.

'How cowardly.'

He hadn't expected anything. From the mont Duchess Schodny had visited his mansion, it was certain the queen was involved in the trap set for him. Whether willingly or not.

But what mattered wasn't who had set this trap. It was sohow getting out of here.

"Avondale."

Daria, pointing her sword tip at Cider, closed the distance in the blink of an eye. The sword surged forward. Clang, the sharp sound of scraping tal blocked the sword path. Daria twisted up her lips.

Cyrus, who had blocked the sword that had rushed in fast enough to leave only afterimages, cast his eyes downward. His red hair swayed. Though he tried not to make eye contact, he knew there was no way Daria wouldn't recognize a face he had seen his entire life.

Cyrus wasn't yet ntally prepared to et this world's Daria. What should he explain? What should he say? How should he act? When he couldn't sleep, he would close his eyes and worry about it, but even until last night he hadn't found an answer.

But this eting wasn't like any eting he had imagined.

"How dare you show your face here after betraying us?"

Daria, baring her sharp teeth, pressed with force on her sword. Magical power gradually flowed into the sword. Cyrus also blocked her with his own magical power.

Even thirteen years ago, Daria had been stronger than Cyrus. But she had no idea about Cyrus's skills that had changed over thirteen years.

On the other hand, Cyrus knew Daria well. That was the problem. She seed weak, yet every ti the sword thrust forward it was blocked. Daria gritted her teeth and shouted.

"What are you doing? You take care of Avondale!"

The younger Cyrus sighed deeply. Before his deep sigh was even finished, he moved nimbly and thrust his sword aiming for Cider's neck.

"Please dodge!"

Cyrus shouted urgently. Cyrus blocked with his body to prevent him from approaching Cider.

"Get out of the—!"

Before he could shout to get out of the way. Bang! An acrid smoke obscured their vision along with a thunderous roar that filled the corridor.

'What is this?'

Daria's eyes widened. It wasn't Cyrus's magical power. This was... bright blue and sharp magical power. It seed familiar sohow.

Right, that woman's magical power!

"It's a smoke bomb! Cyrus, chase them!"

Did they think such a petty trick of just blocking vision would work?

However, when the smoke cleared, Daria could only gape. A black-gloved hand was gripping a sword handle. And.

Where that sword tip was embedded was the younger Cyrus's shoulder blade.

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'This is a thod that can only be used once.'

To prepare for the case where one of the two would attack Cider, they had thought of several asures. They were hastily conceived so there were many flaws, but they should work reasonably well.

This was the crudest thod among them.

He had to detonate a smoke bomb to block their senses, simultaneously use up all the magical power Esperanza had filled him with to block their movent, then render them unable to fight all at once. Just in case, he had received a dagger from Cyrus's inventory. It would be best if he could shoot a gun, but situations didn't always flow so simply.

The younger Cyrus panted as he looked down at the dagger embedded in his right shoulder. His expression was contorted as if chewing and swallowing pain. However, instead of sympathizing, Cider twisted and pulled out the deeply embedded dagger.

"Argh!"

A raw scream burst out. Daria shouted urgently.

"Cyrus!"

But a huge shadow blocked Daria's path as she tried to rush toward her younger brother. The sa face as her younger brother, but slightly more mature. Daria, lifting her pale face, glared at him.

"Get lost."

The sword that cut through the air aid for Cyrus's nape. However, Cyrus, who had thirteen more years of experience than what Daria rembered, was not easy. He skillfully deflected the attack and pushed Daria backward.

It wasn't because he was strong. It was simply because he knew her well. Just as he knew his own body, he understood Daria's movents from one to ten completely. Daria gritted her teeth. Just a few more steps and she'd be there, yet to be blocked here!

"Cyrus, do you have a potion?"

"Just a... mont..."

Cider Claiborne hadn't intended to kill Cyrus. If he had wanted to, he could have stabbed his heart, but the blade had avoided vital points.

Though he had hesitated from the shoulder-splitting pain, Cyrus wielded the sword he had re-gripped with his left hand to push him away. It was to buy ti to open a potion.

However, the mont he pulled out a brown bottle from thin air, he had lost sight of his opponent. Despite having been stuck in a research lab his whole life, he had disappeared from view in an instant!

"He escaped!"

At the groan-mixed cry, Daria, who had been facing the brothers from the future, gritted her teeth.

She had thought the rat hunt was over. No, it would have been over long ago if only Cyrus hadn't been beaten by Avondale!

"Chase him!"

At that mont, Cyrus threw sothing toward his younger self. Bang!

'Another smoke bomb!'

This one was different from before. It even had sothing like a propeller attached that drove the smoke in one direction. The younger Cyrus coughed and struggled to run through the smoke.

anwhile, in the corridor in front of the audience chamber, Daria had gained the upper hand. The sword that had been facing Daria snapped as he hastily pulled his hand away. In the mont his body swayed, a gap appeared. Cyrus desperately deflected the blade rushing toward his neck.

"Ugh!"

Daria, who had withdrawn the blade that had deeply grazed her arm, pressed the attack relentlessly. Cyrus's shirt sleeve began to turn red.

They had once been each other's alter egos. The thirteen-year gap was aningless. Because they knew each other so well, they blocked deep stabbing attacks and deflected tricks. It was as if the two were performing a sword dance in perfect coordination.

Several struggles passed like waves. Cyrus gritted his teeth.

'This isn't about settling the match. Buying ti is what's important.'

At least he had to prevent the number of people targeting Cider Claiborne from increasing to two. And...

"Stop."

Cyrus, who had shaken off the entangled swords, said. Daria grinned. Even though the words ca out with the beginning and end cut off, he could understand what they ant.

"I don't want to."

"You'll fail. I know because I've seen it. This is fundantally bound to fail."

Listen to him talk about fundantals. Her younger brother, who looked quite aged, had apparently consud so ink and was spouting plausible-sounding words. Daria smirked. Just from that, she could guess they had lived quite comfortably.

"What if I don't mind just temporary success?"

"What did you say?"

Two swords clashed rapidly. The probing was over. Daria's sword seed to see through all of Cyrus's swordsmanship accumulated over thirteen years, striking weaknesses without obstruction. Cyrus was desperate just to block the rushing attacks. Daria, who had pushed back the retreating Cyrus, opened her mouth.

"I don't care if I succeed temporarily and then fail. That way I can pay the hospital bills. If I fail? I'll die, so what."

"Don't say it so easily! Because of us..."

This ti Daria's sword aid for Cyrus's shoulder. It was exactly the spot where Cider had stabbed the younger Cyrus. Though he hastily dodged, the back of his neck felt cold. Unlike the dagger Cider had used, Daria's great sword would have cut off his arm and more.

However, Daria, who had attempted such a terrifying attack, wielded her sword with a face even more terrifying than Cyrus, who had almost been hit. Just enduring was difficult. Her knees buckled.

"Say it easily? If you're really my younger brother, you should understand that I have no choice but to do this!"

The sword grazed his cheek and tore his earlobe. Cyrus's back was roughly slamd against the wall.

I know.

Cyrus couldn't say anything. He knew he was doing the right thing. What Daria was trying to do would make hundreds of millions, thousands of millions of unknowing people suffer. It was deceiving people who would be unaware in their world.

But in front of Daria's contorted face, right and wrong all beca aningless. Young age, raw life without protection. Poverty, sick family, debt, darkness without exit. Daria, who would have suffered enough with just his own share, had taken on additional burden for his younger brother.

He couldn't condemn soone for grasping at pinhole-like light cast over such a life. Even if everyone else pointed fingers, he himself couldn't do so. Cyrus, gripping his sword tightly with damp hands, repeated to himself.

He couldn't condemn him. But he also couldn't let him continue down that path.

"Golden Claw is broken. This entire land might beco full of dungeons. It's already killed tens of thousands, and might kill millions more in the future. What you can gain from committing such acts is glory that won't last even ten years."

"I want even that. Money, glory, respect that I couldn't earn even if I sold myself dozens of tis. Ten years? I want even one year."

Daria trampled Cyrus's shoulder with her military boot. Eyes that gave not an inch of compromise glared at each other as if to pierce through.

"If Golden Claw breaks, we're all finished! The company will collapse, all investnt money will flow out, and we'll be traveling the world spending money we don't have to handle the string of lawsuits. Debts that couldn't be paid even by selling organs will pile up like mountains!"

If that happened, only a fall would remain. There would never be another chance to rise. The debt tied to their ankles would bind them to the bottom like an anchor.

"Please, even now, you have to stop."

"Shut up."

A fierce kick struck his belly. Cyrus coughed dryly. Daria's foot pressed down on the struck area as if squeezing it. Cyrus gripped his ankle with bare hands.

Daria, who had struck away the hand gripping as if to break it, bent at the waist. And she roughly grabbed the red-dyed hair. Daria, facing the pain-stained eyes, said:

"You couldn't even persuade the brother next to you, so how could you persuade ?"

Cyrus breathed deeply. Those words were right. He couldn't persuade even the closest person. Though he knew from the beginning this wasn't sothing that could be resolved through dialogue, he foolishly couldn't give up such attempts.

"It's going to hurt a bit."

Daria, who had been looking down at the wavering eyes, re-gripped her sword without hesitation. The sharp sword tip was aid at his shoulder blade. Exactly the sa spot where Cider had stabbed the younger Cyrus earlier. As if in revenge, it was the sa place.

'I'm not your brother. I'm just an enemy.'

Daria was only looking down at a traitor from the distant future. Persuasion was aningless. Cyrus gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.

Using the sword tip surging toward his shoulder with a bright blue light as a signal, Cyrus bent his body deeply backward. In the mont Daria was flustered by the unexpected movent, he used the rebound to straighten his body and struck away Daria's sword.

Daria, who had almost fallen, gritted her teeth. A perfectly fine sword was sohow in Cyrus's hands. Unlike his forearm that was covered in scratches, the shoulder blade Daria had been aiming for was fine except for the shirt being slightly torn.

Standing in the middle of the corridor and blocking Daria, Cyrus said:

"Sorry, but you can't go."

If he couldn't stop her with words, he'd have to stop her with his body. At least he had to hold out until Esperanza returned. With a sharp sound, the two swords clashed again.